WCCS could streamline kindergarten

January 6, 2011

COLUMBIA CITY â€” The Whitley County Consolidated School Corporation is eyeing increased demand for all-day kindergarten.
The result of the school systemâ€™s study, according to Superintendent Dr. Patricia Oâ€™Connor, is some of the corporationâ€™s elementary schoolâ€™s wonâ€™t have half-day kindergarten for the 2011-2012 school year.
â€śWeâ€™re having a shift at our schools from parents wanting the children in a half-day program to parents wanting their children in a full-day program,â€ť said Oâ€™Connor at the regular meeting of the corporationâ€™s Board of School Trustees Monday night.
For the 2010-2011 school year, according to Oâ€™Connor, students who attended kindergarten for a half day were in class in the morning, with the exception of Northern Heights Elementary School that had one half-day class of 13 children in the afternoon.
At Coesse, two kindergarten classes were made up largely of all-day students, with six of the 35 students attending for only a half day.
Little Turtle had four kindergarten classes. All four classes had either four or five children leaving at mid-day for a total of 18 half-day students of the schoolsâ€™ total of 82 kindergartners.
Mary Raber has two kindergarten classes, with only one, a class of 23, losing seven students at midday with a half-day schedule.
Corporation-wide, there are 217 kindergartners. Of those, 44 students, or 20.2 percent, attended a half day.
Oâ€™Connor presented the school board with a plan for next year.
â€śThis was a model that we came up with to accommodate the full-day, half-day conundrum,â€ť she said.
â€śWe would be eliminating half-day kindergarten at two schools and combining them at the other schools.â€ť
Oâ€™Connorâ€™s plan calls for the elimination of half-day kindergarten at Coesse and Mary Raber elementary schools.
At Little Turtle, there would be 24 students attending a half day, divided evenly between morning and afternoon.
Northern Heights would have one class of 20 kindergartners attending in the morning.
Oâ€™Connor said the plan is a model based on this yearâ€™s numbers but agreed with board members who said the actual numbers could vary.
â€śWe wonâ€™t even know what our numbers will be until weâ€™ve had a kindergarten roundup,â€ť said board member Deborah Hiss.
Oâ€™Connor also said if there was a large shift in half-day students, the plan could be altered to have the part-time kindergartners at a different location.
The proposed kindergarten plan is scheduled for a vote by the board at its Jan. 17 regular meeting.
Parents of students who attend kindergarten a half day, as well as those of kindergartners who qualify for free or reduced lunches, pay no tuition for kindergarten.
For full-time kindergartners not on free or reduced lunches, kindergarten costs $48.70 per week, according to Oâ€™Connor.